Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's discus throw

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Women's discus throw
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics.png
Olympic Athletics
VenueJapan National Stadium
Dates31 July 2021 (qualifying)
2 August 2021 (final)
Competitors31 from 19 nations
Winning distance68.98m
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Valarie Allman  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kristin Pudenz  Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Yaime Pérez  Cuba
← 2016
 →

The women's discus throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics is scheduled to take place on 31 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.[1] Approximately 35 athletes are expected to compete; the exact number will depend on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking (no universality places were used in 2016).[2]

Summary[]

Sandra Perković came in as the two time defending Olympic Champion. Her personal best 71.41m is the best throw in almost 30 years. Yaime Pérez was the 2019 World Champion, when Perković "only" got bronze. Jorinde van Klinken had the longest throw of the year at 70.22m. Valarie Allman had the second best, those two the only entrants over 70 metres in the previous two years, Allman over 70 in both years.

Allman was the only first throw automatic qualifier for the final, Kamalpreet Kaur getting the mark exactly on her third and last attempt. It took 61.52m to get into the final. van Klinken did not qualify.

8 throws into the final, Kristin Pudenz was the first thrower over 63 metres at 63.07m. Two throws later, Pérez got 65.72m to take the lead. That lasted long enough for Allman to take her first throw, capped with a pirouette, the former dancer launched it 68.98 m (226 ft 3 in). Pérez was the only other athlete in the final who had thrown that far in the last two years, and only by 1 cm. In the second round, Liliana Cá moved into bronze position with a 63.93m. On her second attempt, Pudenz moved back into medals with a 65.34m. By the time Pérez was up for her second attempt, the rain was becoming a factor. The ring was so slippery, Allman slipped out of the ring, her throw called a foul. The next thrower, Marike Steinacker skidded across the wet ring before even completing her spin. The event was stopped for 2 minutes while someone tried to dry the ring with a towel. They called the next thrower Yang Chen who slipped and threw her discus into the cage awkwardly. They called Cá who slipped and fell on all four before her first spin. More people with towels and brooms were dispatched to try to dry the ring, still in pouring rain. The athletes looked for dry places while the crew put plastic over the ring and new forms of squeegees and drying devices were employed. After about 20 minutes the athletes were released to go wait under the stadium. Another ten minutes went by as the rain began to decrease. A crew of close to 20 people tried to dry the ring and surrounding area. 40 minutes after the last throw, the athletes were brought back to the competition area where they began warming up.

After a 45 minute break, competition resumed. Allman, Steinacker, Yang and Cá were awarded new throws. As the first thrower back, Allman was tentative, hew throw going vertical as much as horizontal. She voluntarily took a foul. Steinacker was able to get a 62.02 which turned out to be enough to get her into the final three throws. In the delayed third round, Perković got 65.01m, not enough for medals but in a threatening position. And Kaur was able to get into the final 8.

That final eight was marred by fouls, 14 out of 24 throws. Only Pudenz was able to improve to 66.86m, which secured her hold on silver but didn't challenge Allman's first round throw. Essentially the medal positions proved to be established in the first round and a half, before the rain. And it proved to be USA's first gold medal of the track program.[3][4]

Background[]

This will be the 22nd appearance of the event, having appeared at every Summer Olympics since women's athletics was introduced in 1928.

Qualification[]

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the women's discus throw event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 63.50 metres. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 32 is reached.[2][5]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both outdoor and indoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.[2][6]

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one female athlete regardless of time if they had no female athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the discus throw.[2]

Competition format[]

The 2020 competition will continue to use the two-round format with divided final introduced in 1936. The qualifying round gives each competitor three throws to achieve a qualifying distance (64.00 metres); if fewer than 12 women do so, the top 12 will advance. The final provides each thrower with three throws; the top eight throwers receive an additional three throws for a total of six, with the best to count (qualifying round throws are not considered for the final).[7]

Records[]

Prior to this competition, the existing world, Olympic, and area records are as follows.

World record  Gabriele Reinsch (GDR) 76.80 Neubrandenburg, East Germany 9 July 1988
Olympic record  Martina Hellmann (GDR) 72.30 Seoul, South Korea 29 September 1988
Area Distance (m) Athlete Nation
Africa (records) 64.87 Elizna Naudé  South Africa
Asia (records) 71.68 Xiao Yanling  China
Europe (records) 76.80 WR Gabriele Reinsch  East Germany
North, Central America
and Caribbean
(records)
70.88 Hilda Elisa Ramos  Cuba
Oceania (records) 69.64 Dani Stevens  Australia
South America (records) 65.98 Andressa de Morais  Brazil

Schedule[]

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The women's discus throw will take place over two separate days.[1]

Date Time Round
Saturday, 31 July 2021 9:30 Qualifying
Monday, 2 August 2021 20:00 Final

Results[]

Qualifying[]

Qualification Rules: Qualifying performance 64.00 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the Final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1 2 3 Distance Notes
1 B Valarie Allman  United States 66.42 66.42 Q
2 B Kamalpreet Kaur  India 60.29 63.97 64.00 64.00 Q
3 A Sandra Perković  Croatia 63.75 x x 63.75 q
4 A Kristin Pudenz  Germany 63.53 x 63.73 63.73 q
5 B Daisy Osakue  Italy 52.26 63.66 x 63.66 q, =NR
6 B Marike Steinacker  Germany 63.22 x x 63.22 q
7 B Yaime Pérez  Cuba 62.90 63.18 59.97 63.18 q
8 B Liliana Cá  Portugal 57.70 62.85 x 62.85 q
9 B Chen Yang  China 62.59 61.57 62.72 62.72 q
10 B Claudine Vita  Germany 62.39 62.46 62.38 62.46 q
11 A Shadae Lawrence  Jamaica 59.55 62.27 x 62.27 q
12 B Izabela da Silva  Brazil 56.14 61.52 60.64 61.52 q
13 B Marija Tolj  Croatia 54.76 61.48 60.33 61.48
14 A Jorinde van Klinken  Netherlands x 61.15 x 61.15
15 A Mélina Robert-Michon  France x 60.88 59.81 60.88
16 A Seema Punia  India x 60.57 58.93 60.57
17 B Feng Bin  China 59.26 60.45 x 60.45
18 B Subenrat Insaeng  Thailand 54.99 59.23 56.82 59.23 SB
19 A Chrysoula Anagnostopoulou  Greece 57.06 59.18 58.55 59.18
20 A Su Xinyue  China 55.37 58.90 57.85 58.90
20 B Andressa de Morais  Brazil x x 58.90 58.90
22 B Dani Stevens  Australia 53.01 58.77 54.60 58.77
23 A Denia Caballero  Cuba x 57.96 x 57.96
24 A Fernanda Martins  Brazil x 57.90 x 57.90
25 A Irina Rodrigues  Portugal x 54.60 57.03 57.03
26 B Dragana Tomašević  Serbia 55.97 56.95 56.43 56.95
27 A Rachel Dincoff  United States 55.10 x 56.22 56.22
28 A Kelsey Card  United States 54.85 55.78 56.04 56.04
29 B Karen Gallardo  Chile 55.36 53.89 55.81 55.81
30 A Alexandra Emilianov  Moldova 54.57 x x 54.57
31 A Nataliya Semenova  Ukraine x x 54.28 54.28

Final[]

Rank Athlete Nation 1 2 3 4 5 6 Distance Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Valarie Allman  United States 68.98 x x 64.76 66.78 x 68.98
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kristin Pudenz  Germany 63.07 65.34 64.35 x 66.86 x 66.86 PB
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Yaime Pérez  Cuba 65.72 62.16 63.20 65.20 x x 65.72
4 Sandra Perković  Croatia 62.53 x 65.01 x x 63.25 65.01
5 Liliana Cá  Portugal 62.31 63.93 x x x 63.93
6 Kamalpreet Kaur  India 61.62 x 63.70 x 61.37 x 63.70
7 Shadae Lawrence  Jamaica 60.22 62.12 58.98 59.46 59.26 x 62.12
8 Marike Steinacker  Germany x 62.02 x x 60.10 60.32 62.02
9 Claudine Vita  Germany 60.70 x 61.80 Did not advance 61.80
10 Chen Yang  China 61.57 59.59 61.43 Did not advance 61.57
11 Izabela da Silva  Brazil 60.39 x 59.56 Did not advance 60.39
12 Daisy Osakue  Italy 59.97 x x Did not advance 59.97

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Athletics – Women's Discus Throw Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics" (PDF). IAAF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Allman's Joy: Discus thrower waits out rain for gold medal". Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Discus thrower Valarie Allman, from Longmont, waits out rain for gold medal". 2 August 2021. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  5. ^ "IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes". BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020". World Athletics. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Athletics Explanatory Guide". Tokyo 2020. August 2019.
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